Rivets are used to secure multiple parts together in an assembly. A self-piercing rivet is a tubular member including a head that is installed by a punch and a die that drive the rivet into a work piece. The tubular end of the self-piercing rivet is spread apart as it is installed to provide a permanent, leak proof joint.
A self-piercing riveting tool has a hollow nose through which the punch and rivet are guided prior to performing the riveting operation. The nose includes an outer ring that clamps the parts of the work piece together before the rivet is inserted into the work piece. Rivets can be damaged, jammed or miss-fed into the tool during the riveting process. Riveting tools can be used to insert a plurality of different types of rivets, different size rivets, or rivets made of different materials in the same part in predetermined locations. If a rivet is jammed in the nose of the rivet tool or the wrong type of rivet is provided to the tool, the rivet must be cleared to prevent damage to the tool or installation of the wrong type of rivet in the wrong location on the work piece.
The nose of a prior art riveting tool must be disassembled to clear a damaged, jammed or miss fed rivet from the riveting tool. Disassembly of the nose of the riveting tool may take several minutes or longer. In high production environments where multiple rivets are installed by a single riveting tool, after the tool is cleared the automation system must be reset. The time for clearing the damaged, jammed or miss fed rivet plus the time for resetting the automation system compromises the efficiency of the system.
The above problems and other problems are addressed by this disclosure as summarized below.